Stanford U.S. Open Championship Highlights 2006 Season
at International Polo Club Palm Beach

 WELLINGTON, FL – Defending champion White Birch, led by the strong combination of 10-goaler Mariano Aguerre and 9-goaler Lucas Criado, head the list of 13 teams entered in the 2006 Stanford U.S. Open Polo Championship at International Polo Club Palm Beach.

The Stanford U.S. Open is the culmination of the ultra-competitive winter polo season and covers the first four Sundays in April. The final, on Sunday, April 23 at 3 p.m. on Stanford Field at International Polo Club, expects to draw more than 8,000 spectators. 

Other returning teams include 2005 finalist Skeeterville and 2005 semifinalist Bendabout as well as two-time champion Isla Carroll, Lechuza Caracas, Black Watch, Pony Express, Las Monjitas and Orchard Hill.

New teams entered include BTA, Mokarow Farms, San Saba and ERG.
The quarterfinals are scheduled for Sunday, April 16 with the semifinals set for Wednesday, April 19.

Historically, the U.S. Open has always been the grand prize of polo in North America. It is one of only four tournaments played at the 26-goal echelon, the highest-rated tournament in the United States. The others are the Hall of Fame Cup and the C.V. Whitney Cup, both also played at International Polo Club Palm Beach in 2006, and the USPA Gold Cup, being played in Aiken, South Carolina later this year.

The first U.S. Open title game was played in 1904 at Van Cortland Park in New York City where the Wanderers defeated the Freebooters 4 ?-3, the lowest scoring final in the history of the tournament.

Off the field, the competition is just as intense with a plethora of social events, highlighted by the black-tie Polo Ball on Friday, April 14 in the Grand Marquee. Sponsors, such as Stanford Private Wealth Management, Bombardier and Bluefish Concierge, host parties where clients, patrons and polo players mingle and have fun. Charities hold benefit luncheons and there’s a fabulous Tailgate Festival & Competition on the last Saturday of the season (April 22) that is open to the public. 

But it’s the thrilling action on the field that draws them to International Polo Club Palm Beach where 12 teams will attempt to keep White Birch from repeating as Stanford U.S. Open champion, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in almost a decade.

“I think that the 2006 U.S. Open is going to be very competitive and exiting,” said White Birch 10-goaler Mariano Aguerre. “The most important players and patrons are going to be there, because with the Argentine Open and the British Gold Cup, these are the most prestigious tournaments in the world. Since we are almost the same team that won it last year, I think that we are one of the teams to beat, but that doesn't mean that everybody is out to get us.”

Who wins the 102nd edition of the Stanford U.S. Open in 2006 will have to be fortunate enough to overcome the competition and unforeseen obstacles, such as injuries to players or top horses. And the immense pressure of competing for the Super Bowl of polo.
Most teams prepare the entire season for the opportunity to win the U.S. Open, keeping their horses fresh while building chemistry and avoiding injuries in the earlier tournaments.

“We start a year in advance, getting players before they’re picked up by another team, building up your string,” said 8-goaler Hector Galindo, captain of Steve Van Andel’s Orchard Hill team.  “It’s the toughest tournament to win (in the United States) because everybody puts their best of everything into it, horses, players, coaching. It turns up the competition that much more. It takes all of it to win, horses, chemistry. A little bit of everything. And luck never hurts.”
That’s what makes it is so difficult to repeat as champion of the most prestigious and toughest tournament in North America; something that hasn’t been done since Tim Gannon’s Outback Steakhouse accomplished the feat with a three-peat beginning in 1999.

“Winning the U.S. Open means a lot to all of us at White Birch,” said Aguerre. “It has to be the most important win that I’ve had in my 20 years of playing in the U.S.
 
Stanford US Open Schedule 

 
Thursday March 30th
11 a..m.                Las Monjitas v. BTA
1 pm                      Skeeterville v. Mokarow Farms                             
Friday March 31st
1 pm                      San Saba v. Orchard Hill
3 pm                      Isla Carroll v. Black Watch
Saturday April 1st
11am                    White Birch v. Bendabout
1pm                      ERG v. Pony Express
Sunday April 2nd
12pm                    Skeeterville v. Las Monjitas
3pm                      Mokarow Farms v. Lechuza Caracas
 

International Polo Club
Palm Beach